Applicant hereby claims foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of corresponding Japanese patent application No. 2001-208748, filed Jul. 10, 2001.
The present invention relates to a body waste collector equipped with a mechanism that is fitted onto a stoma formed in a human body so as to temporarily store therein the solid body wastes and liquid body wastes, etc. (hereinafter referred to merely as body wastes) excreted from the stoma and discharge the gases produced from the stoma in the human body and from the body wastes, from within an ostomy bag to the outside of the ostomy bag.
A body waste collector is used for disposing of the body wastes excreted from the stoma formed in the surface of a patient after the surgical operation of the patient; such a body waste collector is generally comprised of an ostomy bag and a faceplate that is mountable onto the stoma in the surface of a human body. The faceplate is adherently fixed to the portion around the stoma in the body surface by means of a adhesive layer and has the function of guiding the body wastes into the ostomy bag and at the same time holding the ostomy bag. The body wastes are accompanied with odorous gases in some cases, and, as the body wastes are excreted, the gases also collect in the ostomy bag, so that, unless the gases are suitably vented, there is the danger that the ostomy bag may finally come to a rupture; if the ostomy bag bursts, a large amount of body wastes leak out. In order to avoid the occurrence of such a state, it is practiced that a deodorizing filter is provided on a portion of the ostomy bag, so that the gases discharged into the ostomy bag are dissipated out from within the ostomy bag, removing the odors by passing the gases through the deodorizing filter. However, if this deodorizing filter is directly exposed to the body wastes, then the body wastes stick to the surface of the filter, as a result of which there arises the danger that the filter may be clogged to lower the gas permeability thereof, so that the ostomy bag may be expanded and finally come to a rupture and/or the ostomy bag may peel off from the human body, and further, there is the problematic point that the body wastes penetrate into the deodorizing filter to leak outside.
In order to give solutions to these problems, a number of methods for avoiding the attachment of the body wastes to the filter have so far been proposed. One method is to cover the surface of the deodorizing filter or a portion or the whole of the gas-discharge path leading to the deodorizing filter, by the use of a cover layer formed of a gas-permeable and liquid-impermeable or hardly liquid-permeable material, whereby the gases penetrate through the cover layer and reach the deodorizing filter, but the body wastes, particularly the liquid body wastes, are blocked by the cover layer and thus prevented from penetrating into the deodorizing filter (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,074,851 and 5,250,042). However, since the body wastes are slurry-like and viscous, there arises the problem that, even if the surface of the filter is covered with, e.g., a liquid-impermeable cover layer, the minute particles in the body wastes stick to the surface of the cover layer and, further, form a film on the surface of the cover layer, as a result of which the gases become unable to pass through the cover layer.
In order to give a solution to the above-mentioned problem, there has been proposed a multi-stage filter system constituted such that there is provided a multi-stage filter comprising a deodorizing filter, a microporous protection film for protecting the deodorizing filter from the liquid, an open-cell foam barrier for protecting the microporous protection film from the semi-solid fluid and the liquid, and a fluid-impermeable plastics film cover with a gas path, whereby the contact of the body wastes with the deodorizing filter can be avoided as much as possible (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,264). This system is advantageous in respect of the time spent until the body wastes reach the deodorizing filter, but it cannot be prevented that the part of the multi-stage filter in which the gases flow in is clogged with the body wastes, so that the gas venting ability of the filter as a whole lowers. As stated above, even if the filter itself is improved as mentioned above, it is difficult, due to the characteristics of the body wastes, to prevent the gas venting ability from falling so long as there is employed such a structure that there is the possibility that the body wastes may be contacted with the filter portion.
There is further proposed a structure constituted such that, as a different means, an intermediate barrier wall comprised of a thermoplastic film is disposed between the stoma in the human body and a gas discharge port in the internal space of an ostomy bag, a communication hole is provided in the upper part of this intermediate barrier wall so that the gases from the opening may reach the deodorizing filter only through the communication hole in the intermediate barrier wall, and the filter is not directly exposed to the body wastes discharged from the stoma, wherein a selected surface of the walls is embossed so that the intermediate barrier wall and the two walls forming the ostomy bag may not closely attach together and obstruct the flow of gases through the interior of the ostomy bag (See U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,659). By this structure, a marked improvement is made in respect of the prevention of the filter itself from becoming filthy, but, in this case, there arises the problem that, if the communication aperture is made dirty by the body wastes, then the appropriate gas flow in the ostomy bag is obstructed, and further, the communication aperture is blocked by the body wastes, whereby the intermediate barrier wall comes to closely attach to the surface of the filter and/or the ostomy bag walls in the ostomy bag.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a body waste collector that can continuously maintain the discharge of gases in the ostomy bag for a long time and, in addition, economically excellent.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the body waste collector according to the present invention comprises an ostomy bag formed by sealing together the peripheral edge portions of two films in order to receive the body wastes discharged from a stoma formed in a human body, a faceplate which is coupled to one of the films constituting the ostomy bag and is to be set onto the stoma of the human body, a gas-discharging vent provided in the other film of the ostomy bag so as to connect the inside of the ostomy bag to the outside thereof, and a deodorizing filter disposed in the ostomy bag so as to communicate with the gas-discharging vent, wherein, between the two films constituting the ostomy bag, there is disposed an intermediate wall consisting of a fluid-impermeable material, said intermediate wall dividing the space in the ostomy bag into two regions, i.e., the region at the faceplate side and the region at the deodorizing filter side, said intermediate wall being disposed in such manner as to face horizontally the whole surfaces of both the opening in the faceplate and the deodorizing filter in the state in which the body waste collector is supported vertically, and, in the peripheral portion of the intermediate wall, there are formed a plurality of fluid inlets which connect the region at the faceplate side to the region at the deodorizing filter.
Further, according to the present invention, the body waste collector comprises an ostomy bag formed by sealing together the peripheral edge portions of two films in order to receive the body wastes discharged from a stoma formed in a human body, a faceplate which is coupled to one of the films constituting the ostomy bag and is to be set onto the stoma of the human body, a gas-discharging vent provided in the other film of the ostomy bag so as to connect the inside of the ostomy bag to the outside thereof, and a deodorizing filter disposed on the outer side of the ostomy bag so as to communicate with the gas-discharging vent, wherein, between the two films constituting the ostomy bag, there is disposed an intermediate wall consisting of a fluid-impermeable material, said intermediate wall dividing the space in the ostomy bag into two regions, i.e., the region at the faceplate side and the region at the gas-discharging vent side, said intermediate wall being disposed in such a manner as to face horizontally the whole surfaces of both the opening in the faceplate and the gas-discharging vent in the state in which the body waste collector is supported vertically, and, in the peripheral portion of the intermediate wall, there are formed a plurality of fluid inlets which connect the region at the faceplate side to the region at the gas-discharging vent side.